


aiming for your heart!

by chensung



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternative Universe - Kingdom, Kingdom Rivalry, M/M, Noren are princes, Quick Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-10
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2019-01-15 12:21:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12320994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chensung/pseuds/chensung
Summary: Renjun was the archer and Jeno was the dancer. Their kingdoms were rivals and even though Renjun thought Jeno was annoying, not once did he ever inform his father that they were meeting in the fields between their homes.





	aiming for your heart!

**Author's Note:**

> unedited because i'm lazy so please excuse my mistakes i'll edit this one day i promise sdhshfdsh (btw if you didn't know, a quiver is like a small backpack for arrows)

The winds were getting stronger, the leaves were rustling and the cold breeze pierced through Renjun’s thin sweater. Instead of packing away his arrows, a small smirk played on his lips and his fingers gripped the bow tighter, it was a challenge. The target was far away, no doubt the wind would mess up his aiming. Pulling out an arrow from the quiver on his back, Renjun let out a huff, Sicheng was right when he said math would help him with his archery. Sicheng was always right about everything.

 

Ignoring all thoughts, Renjun evened his breathing as he placed the arrow on his bowstring, his fingers slightly shaking due to the cold when he pulled the string back. A few deep breaths, one eye closed, Renjun attempted to calculate where the arrow would go with his aiming. For a while, it was just Renjun and the wind, nothing else to shatter the perfect moment of pure concentration.

 

Renjun’s fingers began to slowly slip from the string, hesitating for a quick second before finally letting go all at once to let the arrow fire through the air. From what could be seen, it had hit the target’s second ring, Renjun smiled widely as he put the bow down, a feeling of pride and happiness forming in his chest.

 

“You know, you could’ve hit the middle if you didn’t think so much.”

 

Hearing that familiar voice, Renjun let out a deep sigh. He didn’t even have to turn around to see Jeno standing there with that stupid smirk on his face. Jeno belonged to the Neo Kingdom and was once just a struggling homeless kid dancing in competitions and as entertainment in the streets for money but the king took a liking to him and decided to adopt Jeno. Renjun only knew this because it was all people talked about for weeks, even in his own kingdom.

 

“You get on my nerves, Lee Jeno.” Renjun stated, his back still facing the boy.

 

Jeno only replied with a short laugh and an, “I know.” which slightly aggravated Renjun but he definitely wouldn’t give Jeno the pleasure of knowing that. Instead, Renjun simply reached to his quiver for his last arrow and notched it onto the string. In slight anger, he pulled the string too harshly and without taking the time to think of his aiming, Renjun pictured the circle target as Jeno and fired his arrow.

 

The arrow had hit the perfect middle.

 

Before Jeno could say anything, Renjun quickly turned to the boy with a glare and said, “Notice how the arrow hit the target so hard it nearly pierced right through it? I imagined it was you.”

 

“Huang Renjun, I am flattered I make you feel such strong emotions.” Jeno placed his hand on his heart with a warm smile.

 

“I hate you, you know that, right?” Renjun stated, bitterness leaked passed his lips. Everything about Jeno made him want to scream at the top of his lungs, the way he acted, how he looks and his stupid platinum blond hair, his pretty eye smile, his delicate fingers— Renjun stopped his thoughts. He shook his head and started to walk to the target to retrieve his arrows, did Jeno say something back? Renjun wasn’t paying attention.

 

“You dyed your hair again, Injunnie.” Jeno casually said while walking alongside Renjun.

 

“Don’t call me that.”

 

“Your red hair is pretty, Huang Renjun.”

 

“Shut up.”

 

Once standing at the target, Jeno began to speak. Of course, someone like him wouldn’t be able to keep quiet for more than a minute. Renjun didn’t focus on the words that spilt from Jeno’s mouth, he thinks maybe he was talking about a boy who ran away from their kingdom for whatever reason but he didn’t care enough about what was going on in their kingdom to actually listen.

 

For years, the Neo Kingdom had been attempting to pull attacks on the Yava Kingdom. Renjun thought that the rivalry was a bit overdue, gone back so long that he couldn’t pinpoint when exactly it started and why. Growing up, he was taught that the civilians in Neo were obnoxious slobs who didn’t care for anyone but themselves and were too focused on wealth and war. Jeno didn’t care about money but Renjun thought that he fit the stereotype quite well.

 

While Renjun had been aggressively pulling his arrows from the circle target made of hay, Jeno stood beside him and continued his rambling, it seemed that he didn’t care at all that Renjun wasn’t even listening. Renjun glared at the final arrow that he hadn’t been able to take out; the one that hit the dead middle. He hated that Jeno was right about hitting the middle without overthinking it, he hated that Jeno was right about _anything._

 

Jeno stopped his tangent momentarily to look at the arrow which was halfway through the target. For a few seconds, Jeno and Renjun just stared at the arrow but Jeno reached for it and nonchalantly tugged at it while continuing to talk. It didn’t take much effort from Jeno to pull it out and he handed it to Renjun with that stupid smile he always wore on his face.

 

In slight disbelief, Renjun bitterly grabbed it from Jeno and walked back to the shooting point without another word.

 

“So I heard you got into an argument with your father.” Jeno said, once again following Renjun like a puppy.

 

“So I heard you got into another street fight again.” Renjun mocked the sound of Jeno’s deep voice.

 

“It’s called self-defence, Injun, it’s a necessity.”

 

“It’s a necessity in _your_ poor excuse of a kingdom where your crap king doesn’t know how to rule properly. In mine, we live in peace and harmony without fear of being beaten up every other day. It’s such a pity that you will have to rule your kingdom instead of Taeyong, he’d be a better ruler than you ever will be.” Renjun spoke sharply and his finger jabbed harshly into Jeno’s stupid green sweater.

 

Maybe it was the fact that this was the first time that Renjun had ever insulted Jeno directly, or maybe it was the tone in his voice but Jeno actually looked _hurt_. For a split second, Renjun regrets his words and almost wanted to apologize to the boy but he chose to turn around and practice.

 

“I’ve always been compared to Taeyong, in both our dancing and ruling abilities,” Jeno quietly said, “I don’t want to be king, I just want to dance.”

 

Renjun bit his lip and silently reached for an arrow, while he notched his arrow, pulled the string back and aimed for the target, Renjun found himself lost in his own thoughts. For the first time, Renjun realized he’s never actually seen Jeno dance before, he’s always been too focused on his bow and arrow, too busy calculating the distance from him to the target to actually look behind him to watch Jeno dance across the large field.

 

“You’re overthinking again, just not about archery.” Jeno pointed out.

 

Trying to blank his mind, Renjun straightened his arms and posture. _It’s just me and the target,_ Renjun thought over and over again. Ironically, he heard every little thing that went on around him and was unable to actually get his mind to focus on the target, Jeno’s feet walked across the ground softly, the boy was humming the tune to an unknown song. To add onto it, the winds grew silent but the feeling of the breeze was still there, the sun was hidden from the heavy clouds and Renjun began to wonder if it was going to rain soon.

 

Growing impatient, Renjun angrily sighed and quickly aimed at the target, letting go of the string without a second thought and sending the arrow flying through the air. Not bothering to see where the arrow had hit, Renjun turned around to face Jeno but was met with the sight of Jeno lying on the grass, arm covering his eyes.

 

Renjun contemplated on packing up and leaving, to let Jeno think but ultimately decided not to. He ran a hand through his hair and sat down beside the boy, placing his quiver beside him and fidgeting with his wooden bow that he handmade with Sicheng.

 

“I understand how you feel, Lee Jeno.” Renjun said and he realized how small his own voice sounded and he decided that he liked the way his voice sounds when it’s soft. Usually, Renjun’s voice was forced to be loud and was filled with (fake) confidence.

 

“No, you don’t. You’ve always had life handed to you on a golden plate, there’s no way you can understand me and my feelings.” Even though the words Jeno spoke were slightly harsh, his tone was calm. Renjun decided he liked the sound of Jeno’s voice, too.

 

“But I do! Everyone expects me to live up to Kun, you know how he was meant to rule Yava? Now they want _me_ to do it now which I think is stupid when we have someone like Chenle in our bloodlines, so I do understand you.” Jeno was silenced at Renjun’s words. It was odd, not having Jeno to speak but Renjun continued to talk anyways. “I just want to be an archer, maybe work at the stable with my friend Sicheng, I don’t want to be a king either.”

 

A few minutes went by in silence and in any other time, Renjun would feel uneasy and awkward but for some reason, this felt different. After a while, Jeno sat up and looked at Renjun with his eyes twinkling and a bright smile on his face, Renjun found himself wondering if this is how Jeno always looked but he was too caught up in bitterness to even notice how pretty he was.

 

“You are extraordinary, you know what?”

 

A smile played on Renjun’s lips as he stared back at Jeno, “Yeah, I know.”

 

“Maybe when we’re both kings, reluctantly,of course, we can finally give peace to our kingdoms and lay the rivalry to rest.” Jeno suggested.

 

“Maybe…”

 

Again, silence filled the cold air. It felt like for once in Renjun’s life, everything was paused in the best way possible, his entire life was going too quickly that he never really got to stand and admire the beauties in this land. Like his brain was too focused on the target in front of him, he never really stopped to stare at the large mountains behind it. The scenery was breathtaking and Renjun felt slightly annoyed at himself for only trying to appreciate the things he had _right now_ when there were thousands of other things he could be appreciating, one of those things being Lee Jeno.

 

“I’m thinking,” Jeno started, a hint of shyness in his voice “Maybe I want to kiss you, Injunnie.”

 

Renjun tilted his head, he could feel his cheeks begin to heat up in slight embarrassment. “I’m thinking maybe I want you to kiss me.” Renjun tried to stop himself from smiling like a fool when Jeno’s eyes literally lit up like a child on Christmas morning. He thought that Jeno was gorgeous and this time, he didn’t try to even stop these thoughts.

 

Jeno pushed himself closer to Renjun and their knees were bumped against each other, Renjun could only watch the younger boy with adoration as he looked slightly nervous even though he was the one who even brought up kissing in the first place.

 

“You are adorable, Lee Jeno.” Renjun thought out loud and his hands made their way around Jeno’s neck. Despite how confident Jeno acts all the time, in this moment Jeno’s cheeks were a pretty shade of pink that almost matched his lips.

 

Renjun couldn’t help but smile as he pressed his forehead against Jeno’s, all this time he’s been hating him and for what reason? Simply because he was from the Neo Kingdom? It didn’t make much sense but now it didn’t even matter anymore because Renjun had started to take a liking to Jeno.


End file.
